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Monday, July 26, 2010

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

I'm suffering from a serious baseball hangover. Me and night games just don't get along so well anymore. I know, poor grammar, deal with it. I'm tired. Too tired to have any regard for the and I rule right now.

Whynot and I (better?) had the pleasure of attending TWO Cubs games this weekend. Cubs won one and lost one. The game they lost was a night game that went extra innings, although we left at 10 pm when they were still tied, so we didn't actually see them lose. Hehe, that's my story.

Ohhhh, cool thing happened while we were waiting for the game to begin yesterday. We were approached by an employee sporting Ambassador emblazoned on his shirt. I got all excited, thinking they were going to pick us for the Best Seats in the House promotion or at the very least, offer us one of those big pretzels that comes in a pizza box

Yeah, no such luck. The gentleman only wanted to ask us a few questions. To help the Ricketts better understand the fans wants and needs is what I think he said. Oh what the heck, we weren't going anywhere, so I obliged. But when I was all done, I realized that all of the questions were 'on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most likely to' and most of the questions had to do with advertising to boost attendance. HELLO. Cubs' attendance is steady whether they win or lose and being nine games out of first place isn't having a negative effect on attendance. After thinking for a moment, what I really wanted to say was something like this:

Dear Mr. Survey Taker and/or Ricketts Family,

The fans will come to Wrigley regardless of how and where the Cubs' marketing department places ads. What this spouse of a season ticket holder would like to see are some incentives once I'm at the park. The offer of 25% off of concessions one hour prior to game time is a good start. How about giving families a break by offering that discount all day on certain game days? Perhaps you could extend that discount to all season ticket holders to use at any time. One hour before game time? Seriously! Have you tried getting out of the house with two kids in tow, not to mention having to deal with traffic when coming from the burbs? The cheapest tickets at Wrigley....well they ain't cheap. Add up the cost of four tickets, transportation, parking, food, a few souvenirs and you have an amount close to what I spend on groceries for an entire month.

It's no surprise that in my opinion, more strategic marketing solutions have to do with food. The current giveaways, eh, just so so. But add a discount coupon to the trinket you're handing me and you've got me! Hand me a Pepsi cup that I can refill all day for a dollar or two. Yeah, now we're talking. Free fries with my hot dog, cool! T-shirts, always cool. Some of the other stuff, not really.

The event recently held for season ticket holders, was tremendously appreciated. My husband was in baseball heaven. He and my 4 year old grandson were able to romp on sacred ground and touch the historic ivy. Hats off to the Ricketts family! Way to reach out to the fans. I truly hope this a tradition that continues annually. You have no idea the impact it had on this family and many others I'm sure. Thank you.

You've got my name, my number, even my email that wouldn't all fit on the screen but I'm hoping someone can decipher that. Call me, we can talk more...over lunch of course ;)

And in conclusion, please don't go all Willis Group on us die-hard fans. It will ALWAYS be Wrigley Field in our minds and hearts.

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I'm a former Chicago area wife, mom of 2, stepmom of 2 and Mema to some of the cutest little boys ever who has recently been transplanted to Phoenix. We also have three weenie dogs, Bella, Gracy and Theo. Join me as I blog here about my crazy life on The Avenue. Please note that neither this blog nor I, have any affiliation with the actress, her estranged family, or the country of Germany, in case you're into anagrams. It is named after my 2 children and me, as their mom. PR is always welcome, please email me at megryansmom at sbcglobal dot net to see if we are a good fit.